In recent years it has become fashionable to highlight and streak the hair to add interest and attractiveness. While this practice might seem simple to the layman, professional hair colorists and those individuals who have attempted to streak or highlight their own hair or that of another realize that considerable skill and technique is necessary to obtain even a passable job and that truly professional results are very difficult to achieve. For this reason, many techniques have been developed for highlighting and streaking hair which have various advantages and disadvantages and which provide varying degrees of success, depending upon the skill of the operator and other factors.
An excellent, but very difficult technique, is the basic foil method in which a sheet of aluminum foil is held under the hair to be treated. The hair to be treated or colored is first woven by well-known techniques and then a sheet of aluminum foil is held against the scalp and hair of the head with the edge of the foil as closely adjacent to the roots of the hair to be treated as possible. The desired bleach, dye, or other product is then applied to the hair so-isolated. The lower free end of the aluminum foil is folded or rolled toward the head until out of the way of the next portion of hair to be treated. The sides are then folded inwardly to form a crimped envelope or package completely enclosing the treated hair. The hair is allowed to process for the required period of time and then the foil package is removed. Normally, the plurality of portions of hair that are treated in this manner aggravates the problem of holding the foil in place, both during application of the treating agent and during processing. This requires great care and more than one pair of hands so that an assistant must be employed to do the tedious and exacting job of holding the foils in place. Any movement of the person's head or a slip by the operator or assistant leads to spotting or bleaching where it is not wanted. While this method can provide excellent results and close bleaching at the root of the hair, it is very difficult to perform properly. Also, it is expensive in requiring the time of an assistant to cut the sheets of foil and to hold them in place.
In the foil method of treating hair, prior art techniques have used a tool for the application of the foil. This tool is a flat piece of wood about one-eighth inch in thickness and approximately four inches wide and five inches long. The paddle has a handle on it so that a person can hold it with one hand while applying bleach, or any other hair lightening product, with the other hand. This technique is very time-consuming and insufficient for various reasons. First, the use of one hand to hold the paddle leaves the second hand with all the work; from applying the foil on the paddle to weaving to hair, applying the product on the paddle and folding the foil. This results in low speed application that can take anywhere from two to three hours. The thickness of the wood results in the inability to get full coverage for the weaved hair. This, in turn, results in uneven application and uneven or incomplete hair color. In most cases, an assistant is required either to hold the paddle, cut the foil, or to apply color. In all of these instances, the client is very unhappy when the client has to sit in the chair for three hours. This is extremely discouraging to the client and generally results in the failure to return for additional treatment.
In the past, various U.S. patents have issued relating to the various techniques for coloring and treating hair. U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,781, issued on Oct. 31, 1967, to R. J. Poole describes a coloring or bleaching method in which entire layers of hair are simultaneously treated with bleach so as to produce contrasting streaks in the hair. A special applicator is provided which is a brush having spaced series of tufts of bristles. The treatment is carried on over a protective sheet of aluminum foil.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,647, issued on Nov. 25, 1975, to K. C. Fisher describes an apparatus for chemically treating selected bundles of hair. This apparatus includes a clamping platform and a clip slidable therein. The platform includes a pair of jaws and a planar surface with the surface being disposed substantially orthogonal to the jaws. The selected hair is captured in the Jaws so as to allow the planar surface to press against the hair directly immediately thereunder and the scalp. A foil sheet is interposed and held by action of the planar surface and the scalp so as to achieve isolation of the selected bundle of hair.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,964, issued on Feb. 21, 1978, to H. D. Wells provides a method of coloring hair which consists of parting the hair in a manner so as to define a plurality of individual hair sectors on the scalp. A hair dresser's tape is applied to the scalp along all of the part lines and a double-side adhesive tape is applied over the hair dresser's tape. One or more hair tressed segments are wrapped in rectangular pieces of liquid impervious sheet material. The packets are adhesively held in this position during the hair treatment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,741, issued on Apr. 8, 1980, to S. M. Minghanelli provides a liquid-impermeable sheet, made of aluminum foil, having a coating of pressure-sensitive adhesive. The process of this method involves separating a portion of hair to be treated, adhering one of the liquid-impermeable sheets to the scalp, and treating the selected portion of hair with a desired liquid-treating agent. The sheet is folded or rolled toward the head and the edges are folded inwardly so as to form an envelope.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,954, issued on Sep. 30, 1980, to M. L. Stahl discloses a device for use in bleaching or coloring hair. This device includes a thin planar base member having a hand grip portion at one end and a generally U-shaped top member having a transverse span portion atop the base member, adjacent the hand grip portion. A pair of generally parallel arms or thin planar materials extend from the span portion. A moisture impervious flexible sheet of a suitable material, such as aluminum foil, is disposed between the base and the U-shaped top members. A lock of hair is disposed over at least a portion of the central area of the foil, and a hair coloring or bleaching fluid is applied thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,840, issued on Apr. 21, 1987, to D. C. McCosker discloses a strip for facilitating the selective coloring of hair. A thin sheet of flexible elastic plastic material is provided which has a plurality of sets of openings. The openings are used to hold strands of hair which, in turn, hold the sheet to the scalp.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,983, issued on Jun. 16, 1987, to Nath et al., provides a method for performing a hair coloring treatment. This employs the use of a sheet of plastic material. The sheet of plastic material is folded along predetermined fold lines over and about a section of hair to be treated. This forms a generally closed pocket so as to allow the hair to be configured within the pocket for a desired period of time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,539, issued on Oct. 15, 1991, to K. G. Abramson shows a product and method for coloring selective areas of hair. This device is an improved method for foiling hair by using a segment of aluminum foil having two window panes of transparent material arranged equidistant from each other such that when the foil is folded in half, the two panes are aligned one on top of the other.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved foiler which greatly speeds the process of treating hair.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of foiling which allows the single hair dresser the ability to properly manipulate the hair with two hands.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a foiling apparatus and method which is relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and time-effective.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.